1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of mounting a cowl-top cover that is disposed between a front glass and a front hood of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been employed a number of cowl-top cover mounting structures in such a manner as to hold and support a lower end part of a front glass by means of a clip member that is formed at a rear end part of the cowl-top cover. A mounting structure of such type serves as a constituent element adapted to hold the lower end part of the front glass from the upper and lower directions by means of a clip; and therefore, a boundary portion between the lower end part of the front glass and the cowl-top cover is swelled by means of a plate thickness of a clip member.
Accordingly, as a vehicle cowl-louver structure (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-264868, for example), there has been proposed a construction in which the swelling in the boundary portion between the lower end part of the front glass and the cowl-top cover is eliminated, and its related surfaces are flush with each other between the lower end part of the front glass and the rear end part of the cowl-top cover. Such a layout construction in which the surfaces are flush with each other is provided, thereby making it possible to improve an external view in the boundary portion between the front glass and the cowl-top cover.
While the vehicle cowl-louver structure described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-264868 is shown as the related art in comparison with the present invention, FIG. 17 shows a sectional view of essential portions of a cowl-louver main body and a window shield glass. As shown in FIG. 17, a lip member 52 is mounted on the side of a rear end part 50a of the cowl-louver main body 50, and via the lip member 52, the cowl-louver main body 50 abuts against an end face of a lower end side of the window shield glass 51.
On a back face of the window shield glass 51, a clip 53 having a hook-shaped engagement protrusion 54 is fixed via a double-sided tape. The engagement protrusion 54 is formed in a shape in which the protrusion is released to an upper side of a vehicle, and a claw portion 55 that is erected downward from a back face of the cowl-louver main body 50 is capable of engaging the cowl-louver main body 50 therewith by moving the claw portion from top to bottom with respect to a clip 53. That is, the cowl-louver main body 50 is moved in a direction orthogonal to that of a face of the window shield glass 51.
In a state in which the claw portion 55 of the cowl-louver main body 50 is engaged with the engagement protrusion 54 of the clip 53, a surface of the window shield glass 51, a surface of the lip member 52, and a surface of the cowl-louver main body 50 can be arranged so as to be flush with each other.
According to the invention described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-264868, the cowl-top louver main body 50 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the face of the window shield glass 51, that is, in a direction from top to bottom, whereby the claw portion 55 can be engaged with the engagement protrusion 54 of the clip 53. Thus, when the claw portion 55 is pushed so as to be thereby engaged with the engagement protrusion 54, a bending stress acts on the back face of the window shield glass 51 fixing the clip 53.
Due to an influence of the bending stress acting on the window shield glass 51, there is a possibility that the window shield glass 51 cracks or breaks and then there is a need to set a plate thickness of the window shield glass 51 so as to be thick. In addition, due to a compression force that is exerted when the claw portion 55 is pushed against the engagement protrusion 54, a force that is produced in a rotating direction with respect to the window shield glass 51 acts on the clip 53. This rotation force acts on a bonding face between the clip 53 and the window shield glass 51, there is a possibility that a double-sided tape that is attached to the bonding face is released therefrom and thus there is a need to use adhesive agent with its strong adhesive force.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cowl-top cover mounting structure that: is capable of arranging a surface of a front glass and a surface of a cowl-top cover so as to be flush with each other; is further capable of engaging the cowl-top cover with a clip member fixed to the front glass without causing the front glass to crack or break; and moreover, is capable of preventing unlocking of the clip member and the front glass, without a need to provide a special reinforcement when the cowl-top cover is engaged with the clip member.